1. Field of Invention
The techniques described herein are directed generally to the field of computer applications, and more particularly to techniques for monitoring activity on a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Systems exist for collecting data from computers executing in the field, i.e., in environments where they are used by customers who purchased the computer systems or aspect thereof. For example, the developers of some software applications insert special probe or event functions into the software code, producing instrumented software code. The instrumented software code instructs the computer on which the code is running to store some limited information specified by the software developers, about the software and/or its operating environment, in a location in computer memory or in computer storage media. The information may be transmitted for a number of reasons by the computer system to the software developer who may analyze the data. For example, if a software application crashes, that information may be transmitted back to the software developer, who may then look for information useful in debugging errors in the software.